Shiba Kyouichi
Shiba Kyouichi (芝恭一, Kyōichi Shiba) is a powerful Hero kept in the prisons of the Japanese Branch of the Hero Clan. In Volume 2, he was paired up with Kurumi, Takashi, and Yuki as an observer tasked with eliminating Mio as an S-Rank Threat. It was soon revealed that Shiba is a chimera using DNA from Jin Toujou but was soon imprisoned in the Hero Clan due to the threat that he could pose. History At some point, Albareos who acted as the commander of the frontline in the Vatican and the Special Department began using forbidden magic and experimented with cloning using the DNA of Jin Toujou whom they recognized as the stronger hero born among the entire Hero Clan and set their sights on his abilities, then stole a strand of his hair at the age of fourteen. But, none of the clones created could match Jin and were disposed of. It was soon decided that they would instead create a stronger being through combining the cells of mythical beasts, spirits, and Guardian Spirits. Doing such experiments caused corruption in their pact with the gods and used the failed clones of Jin as a container for the corruption that was caused by their actions. One of the Ten Gods, Reginleif becomes involved in order to ensure the success of their project and ensure that there wouldn't be too much corruption. They made their thirteenth batch of clones, among them being Shiba Kyouichi and was deemed to be a failure; but due to having the cells of a high-ranking demon in him, he could absorb the corruption and convert it into power meaning that he could potentially become as strong as Jin Toujou himself. Eventually, Shiba grew too powerful and his power began to extend into several different dimensions. As a result, the Gods decided to abandon the project, however, Reginleif had made an attempt to absorb Shiba into himself using two arm guards. Instead, he himself got absorbed into Shiba granting him all his power, memories and knowledge. So for the past twenty years, Reginleif continued to exist as Shiba's magic gauntlets. Since the Gods abandoned the cloning project, The Special Department of the Vatican was looking for a partner to share in their sin. In exchange for political power, a symbiotic relationship between the Village and the Vatican was born. Shiba was then transferred to the Village and held as a prisoner. Shiba would then spend the next 20 years of his life like a bird in a cage plotting his revenge. Appearance Shiba has long brown hair tied with red ribbons and wears the Hero Tribe's uniform. He keeps his eyes narrowed to slits rarely ever opening his eyes, however when he opens them it shown that they are red with slit pupils. He also keeps his face set in a mocking smile, which he only wipes off on rare occasions of annoyance, surprise or anger. Personality When Shiba is first introduced in the series, He appears to be a calm and joyful person. Unlike the majority of the Japanese Hero Clan, He doesn't seem to hold a grudge against Basara for the incident in the Village. He appears to be loyal to the Village and follows the elders' instructions regarding Mio without question. This is more or less a facade that Shiba puts on in order to carry out his true goal. Shiba originally cursed himself for being born out of an experiment, but after some time became flattered that the Vatican would go to such lengths in their effort to recreate the power of Jin Toujou. Shiba is driven by his hatred for the Vatican and everything that they stand for. Unlike most people, he understands the true nature of the Hero Clan and strongly believes that he's saving the world by destroying the Hero Clan. Shiba's confident in his abilities and prides himself on his intellect. He doesn't mind going out of his way to explain his himself, and even gives credit to people such as Basara that are able to follow along with his thought process. He's direct and has a way with words that often cause him to get under peoples skin and put them on edge a bit. Despite putting people on edge, there's always truth to Shiba's words. Powers & Abilities Shiba is a powerful and dangerous Hero that Basara considers to be "Over-Talented" instead of a "Genius", he is also been stated to be more dangerous than Banishing Shift and Byakko. Using his powers, Shiba emits a vicious red-black. After his birth, Reginlief made an attempt to absorb Shiba desiring his power for himself, but he instead got absorbed into Shiba resulting in him turning into a being that the Hero Clan couldn't handle. It was stated that his power is so incomprehensible that it may be more powerful than the four divine weapons containing Byakko, Seiryu, Suzaku, and Genbu combined. Later it's stated that Shiba's powers are on par with or even potentially greater than that of the Ten Gods, making even Kouryuu the leader of the four gods accept Shiba as an authority figure. Corruption Absorption: '''Because his body posses cells from the high-level demon, Shiba had a unique power to absorb and store corruption that could end the Hero Clan due to their actions in committing taboo, then convert that into power. Despite all the threats that Shiba can pose to the Hero Clan and Vatican, no one could kill him fearing that it could release all the corruption stored inside of him and swallow the entire Vatican. Shiba is also able to absorb living beings and take their power for himself, this is first shown when he absorbed Reginlief taking his power including his knowledge and memories. '''Ki Manipulation: Shiba is a ki-based fighter, as such, he can control his ki and the ki of others around him. He can use absorb ki and use it in different ways, He utilized it in order to put Takashi in a near death by overloading his ki after blocking his attack. He can utilize ki for long-ranged combat by firing off a wave of it. Along with being able to cover himself in a different colored aura by gathering the elemental-based ki around him (thus gaining a brown-colored aura using the earth-based ki). Shiba can sense the ki of others as he could sense and predict all of Basara's attacks, by sensing his killing intent, then avoid them accordingly along with being able to notice that he realigned the imbalance in his spirit letting him use Banishing Shift again. He can sense the ki of the unborn children in a woman's womb and discover a person's identity based upon their ki. He's also able to completely suppress his presence, and appear invisible by using ki. Master Combatant: '''Shiba is one of the most skilled and fear combatants in the series. He effortlessly defeated Takashi and Celis. He proved he's capable of overpowering Basara and almost succeeded in killing him in their first match. Shiba mainly uses kicks and punches sometimes covered by Ki, but when he gets serious, he uses Reginleif. '''Immense Speed: Shiba is extremely fast and agile especially in combat. This is first seen during a meeting with Basara´s group after they returning to Hero village when was able to move in front of Basara, without him even noticing in a false attempt to kill him. During their first battle, Shiba was able to avoid all Basara attack´s and even when he used his Universal Rejection power. Totsuka-no-Tsurugi'' ''(十拳剣, Sword of Length of Ten Fists): In his final battle with Basara, Shiba combined five different ki to create a red colored god sword to use as a final trump card against Basara. Equipment Reginlief: The Ten God in charge of the project attempted to absorb Shiba by using two arm guards, however, he underestimated Shiba and got absorbed into him becoming his magic gauntlets. Hasegawa states that in terms of raw power alone, his gauntlets surpass Brynhildr. In volume 11, Shiba draws out the full power of Reginlief within him, by allowing his arms guards to corrode his body, producing a devilish organic armor. It's stated that Shiba drawing out the full power of Reginlief should have swallowed his flesh and mind, but due to absorbing 4 out of the 5 elements, he was able to maintain his body. Trivia * After the events of volume 11, Shiba moves into Chisato's old apartment and lives rent free. Category:Male Characters Category:Characters Category:Hero Category:Former Antagonists